The Making of Sardonyx
by Adriana Snow
Summary: Pearl and Garnet's first attempts at fusion. (Including the same level of sexual tension as in their cannon fusion dance and forehead touches.)


**AN:** **This is not related to the newest reveal in "A Single Pale Rose," but my attempts to deal with my emotions about it led to me finally finishing the fic that has sat on my computer for literal years.**

Pearl spent a majority of her time with Rose. Between talking strategy, sparing, and just having casual conversations, most of Pearl's time was spent in the other gem's presence. Yet, there were a few times when Pearl wandered away from Rose. Mostly this is when the other gem was busy mingling with her other soldiers. It wasn't that Pearl didn't like her comrades or enjoy talking to them, it was just that she tended to get overwhelmed in large groups of people. Rose, however, didn't only need to spend time with her troops to be a good leader, but also seemed to enjoy it.

During the times when Rose was mingling with the other rebels, Pearl would normally walk around and explore the area in which they'd set up their base. At first, it had just been her wandering around by herself, but after a while, she ended up being joined by Garnet most of the time.

It had started with them just bumping into each other once in a while. Garnet also seemed to want some alone time away from the others (though Pearl wasn't sure if one could say she was really _alone._ ) They tended to frequent the same types of places: small streams, grass covered hills, and little valleys. Over time, it had evolved into an unspoken tradition. Whenever the group had some down time and the others got together to roughhouse and make up games, Pearl and Garnet would explore their surroundings together.

Spending time with Garnet was nice because she didn't demand conversation, but she also didn't snub it. The silences between them were comfortable and Pearl never worried that she was annoying the other gem if she did speak. It was nice to be with someone who didn't exhaust her just by sitting next to her.

When they found a place they both seemed to agree on, Pearl would usually sit and relax, watching nature take its course. Earth was different than Homeworld, always moving and breathing. The sounds and movements were surprisingly relaxing.

What Garnet chose to do with her time depended on the day. There were times where she'd sit in silence next to Pearl. She spent some of those times taking in her surroundings like Pearl did, but more often then not, she'd appear to be more in her own head. Pearl wasn't sure if she was reading the future or if her components were having their own conversations in her head during these moments, and it felt intrusive to ask.

Sometimes, Garnet would be more active. She'd scout out the area and climb trees or take a swim. Once in a while, the fusion would punch a rock until it shattered before holding up her fist to say, "I won." Pearl wasn't sure exactly what that type of behavior was for but accepted it as a harmless quirk.

Other times the fusion would spend her time happily picking flowers or capturing small animals to give to herself. Once in a while, she'd try giving things to Pearl, but after her reaction that one time to having a slimy, squirmy thing dropped into her lap without warning, Garnet tending to restrain herself from gifting her with Earth animals. She did still give Pearl flowers and occasionally leaves (she'd also given her a handful of grass once). Pearl wasn't quite sure why she did this. They were all different colors and shapes and the time between gifts was random. Perhaps it was when Pearl seemed sad and Garnet was trying to cheer her up. Maybe the plants reminded her of Pearl (they did tend to be dainty and small like Pearl was, but that was most flowers, actually). It was possible she just thought Pearl would like them. Yet, she assumed it was some sort of sign of affection, so she accepted the gifts happily enough.

It was one of the days where Garnet decided to give her a flower. She plopped a single yellow thing with curly petals into Pearl's hand and then sat down beside her, apparently done exploring for the day. Pearl glanced over at Garnet from the corner of her eye. This was their first time out since their last encounter with enemy forces. Garnet had been separated during that fight from a mace to her chest. What was worse was that only Ruby had been poofed. Sapphire had been inconsolable in the three days it took for Ruby to reform. Pearl wasn't completely sure why as her future vision must have told her that Ruby would reform perfectly fine, but Sapphire spent the entire time switching between heartbreaking sorrow and unbridled rage. She wouldn't let most people anywhere near the shelter she'd set up. Those whom she did allow near her learned to step lightly. She'd gone so far as to snap at both Rose and Pearl a couple of times and almost froze Bismuth's fingers off. After Ruby had reformed and she and Sapphire had fused again, Garnet spent a few days keeping to herself. Pearl had been happy when, today, the fusion had caught up to her as she was leaving camp.

Pearl stared down at the flower in her lap and the question she'd had for quite a while now slipped out before she realized what she was doing. "What's fusion like?"

There was a pause and Pearl wondered for a moment if she'd overstepped, but Garnet shrugged. "It's hard to explain," she answered.

"Ah, I see," Pearl said fidgeting a bit. A few days after Ruby and Sapphire had been forcibly yanked apart probably wasn't the best time for a question like that. What was she thinking?

"If you really want to know, though, we could try it," she offered.

Pearl's head shot up. "Really?" she asked.

"Only if you want to."

Pearl thought about it for a moment. She hadn't ever really entertained the thought of herself fusing with anyone before. Pearls never fused. "I-I do," she said after some reflection. "But how do you…" She trailed off as Garnet got to her feet.

"Ruby and Sapphire have found dancing helps synchronize your thoughts better," she said holding out a hand to Pearl.

"I-I haven't danced in quite a long time," Pearl informed her, but she set her flower on a rock and took the fusion's hand anyway.

Garnet pulled her to her feet. "That's okay. It doesn't have to be perfect," she reassured Pearl. "Honestly, Ruby and Sapphire just spin each other around in a circle."

"Alright," Pearl said. "Okay. So, um, what should I…?" Garnet's small smile was her only warning before the hand still engulfing Pearl's tugged her forward. She stumbled into Garnet's chest. "Garnet!"

Garnet chuckled a little. "You're thinking too much." Pearl rolled her eyes, but let the fusion shift her grip so their fingers were intertwined. Her other hand came up to rest on Pearls waist and Pearl put her own hand on the fusion's shoulder. Garnet moved forward a bit and Pearl took a step back. Pearl let Garnet lead her around in a circle, concentrating on staying in step with her.

"Nothing's happening," Pearl pointed out after a few minutes.

"Maybe you should try dancing."

"What?" Pearl asked confused. "We are dancing."

"No, I'm walking in a circle and you're following me."

"That is dancing!" Pearl protested, but her face blushed bright blue

"No. It's not. You need to relax." Pearl made an exasperated sound and Garnet's lips pressed into a line. "You have to dance like you, Pearl."

Pearl stopped moving. "I don't really know how I dance," she admitted. "I've only ever danced for someone else."

"Hmm," Garnet said, contemplating her for a moment. "I have a suggestion."

"What?"

"You may have never danced for yourself, but you have fought for yourself. The two aren't very different. We could spar instead."

Pearl blinked at her. "You want me to fight you to fuse?" she asked.

"Maybe minus the deadly weapons, but yes."

"I-I guess we could try it," she said, but she didn't move.

Garnet smiled and stepped back a bit from her. She swung a slow, sloppy punch toward the smaller gem that wouldn't have done much damage even if it had hit her, but Pearl ducked out of the way anyway.

Pearl tilted her head and returned with a deliberately soft punch which Garnet blocked with her forearm. Pearl spun away, aiming a slow kick at the fusion's neck. Garnet caught her ankle in her hand and, on instinct, Pearl jumped and twisted putting her whole weight onto her friend for a few moments to break the grip; she landed light on her feet a few feet away. Garnet flashed her a grin and jumped forward to swing at her, her punches still without much force, but much faster. Pearl ducked under and dodged around them, throwing a few of her own for good measure.

Garnet went to grab her around the waist, but Pearl managed to escape her, sliding between her legs and giving a kick to her lower back. Garnet stumbled forward a bit.

The fusion whirled around to look at her. Pearl smirked a bit, raising an eyebrow. "Hmmm," Garnet said and then moved her hips in an odd way that had Pearl pausing.

"What are you doing?" she asked.

"Dancing," Garnet replied, moving her arms in a rhythmic way.

A giggle rose in Pearl's throat. "That's how you dance?" Garnet's eyes narrowed a bit and she playfully grabbed for her again. Pearl let her catch her arm this time and twirled into her a bit, laughing happily. That was when she felt it: a little tug at the center of her being.

It felt as though a led ball had dropped into her stomach when she realized what that meant. She hadn't realized they'd be able to do it this soon. Was she really ready to let herself go like that?

Her leg came up and she kicked Garnet in the face. The tug went away.

"Ow," Garnet said, stumbling back a step.

Stunned by her own actions, Pearl slapped a hand over her mouth. "I'm sorry," she said.

Garnet shook it off. "It's okay," she reassured her.

"It's really not," Pearl groaned hiding her face.

"Well, I was the one who asked you to fight me," Garnet said with a shrug, trying to act casual. She knew, Pearl through, a blush working its way up her neck. Pearl looked away, wrapping her arms around herself. "Pearl," Garnet coaxed. There was a hand on her shoulder. "It's really okay. You don't have to push yourself farther than you want to go."

"I…I want to, I really do, it's just…" Pearl sighed, not able to finish her thought.

"How about we table it for the day and then we work on it some more next time," Garnet suggested.

"That would be nice. Sorry, I…"

"Really don't be sorry Pearl, I understand, trust me," Garnet said. Pearl's shoulders relaxed slightly. "We can go back to camp if you want."

"I'd like to sit here, I think," Pearl responded. "If that's all right with you."

"Of course." Despite the embarrassment Pearl still felt from the violent end to their fusion attempt, it was still nice to sit and watch the world turn with Garnet at her side.

They'd been working on their fusion dance for a couple of weeks now and it was honestly one of the most fun things Pearl had ever done. Most of the time was spent just learning how to dance with each other or play fighting, though the line between the two had started to blur quickly. Garnet had taken to tossing her into the air, not too high, but enough to get Pearl's breath to come a little quicker even after Garnet effortlessly caught her and spun her around. Overall, their dance was turning into a dramatic, showy mess of moves and Pearl loved every second of it.

"That seems like a good height," Garnet said, setting her down on her feet softly.

"You could still go a bit higher," Pearl told her.

Garnet's eyebrows rose. "You really are a daredevil."

Pearl rolled her eyes. "You'll catch me."

"I will," Garnet conceded with a smile.

Pearl smiled back and then swallowed, staring at her fingers on Garnet's shoulder. "W-would you want to try to actually fuse again?"

"If you want to, we can," Garnet said easily.

Pearl nodded. "I think I'm ready."

Garnet grinned and though the fusion was anything but an open book, Pearl could read a bit of excitement in the tilt of her lips. Seeing that melted a bit of the nervousness still in her chest. It was nice to see that Garnet wanted to fuse with her. It was also nice that despite that, she'd been so patient and encouraging the entire time they'd been working on their dance. That thought pushed her forward toward her friend with a little spin. Garnet took the arm she offered and spun her back out. She twirled a bit on her toes while Garnet rotated her hips, drawing her arms across her chest. Pearl did a running leap toward her and Garnet grabbed her out of the air.

The small smirk on the fusion's face was the only warning Pearl had before the fusion lobbed her into the air, harder than she had any time before. Pearl had a few moments of weightlessness before landing safely in her friend's arms. They both burst out laughing as Garnet swung her around in a couple of messy circles. This time, Pearl didn't resist the tug she felt, instead choosing to continue to giggle while pressing her forehead against Garnet's…

"We're-I'm big," was the first thing she ever said as herself and it was very true. She was bigger than her components had thought she was going to be. Ruby had fused into a 5 ruby fusion before, but this fusion would probably tower over even that. She was sitting down and yet her head was above a few of the trees.

The new fusion looked down at her. "Four arms," she commented. "Goodness me, is that supposed to happen?" Of course, there was no one around to answer her. She experimentally moved her arms around. The bottom pair suddenly spun around her entire body. "Oh!" she said surprised and then started laughing. "What an all-around marvelous performance." She laughed harder "Oh, I am fantastic," she enthused, throwing her head back. She clapped her top set of hands and then let herself fall back until she was looking up at the sky.

"Is this how it always feels? No, this feels different, new. The same, but different. Hmm. It's nice yes." She looked at her hands in fascination. It wasn't a color her components were used to being and while part of her had expected that, another part hadn't really thought about it.

"I look like a magician," she said. "What's a magician? Do I know?" She couldn't seem to recall which of her components had experience with a 'magician.' It was more of a feeling about a concept than a memory. The idea of it flittered across her mind in a strange way. She decided to ignore the sensation for now.

"What now?" she asked herself and then laughed. "Whatever I want! Just exist!" Nodding to herself, she did just that, sitting back up so she could brush her fingers over the top of a tree, marveling at what a weird sensation it was. None of her had ever even imagined what it would be like to be this huge, at least not for a reason where she could simply sit peacefully and absorb her surroundings. It was great, exciting, peaceful…but.

But then there was a shift inside her. The part of her that was Pearl had just started to come down from the excitement of being part of a fusion like this and with that came an uneasiness. She had a connection to Garnet, mostly because Garnet was just as out of place as Pearl was, more so actually. There weren't any Garnets on Homeworld and that made it easier for Pearl to relax around her. They could strike up a friendship without Pearl needing to grapple with their places on the Homeworld hierarchy.

But, now that she was in the fusion, it wasn't really her and Garnet; it was her, Ruby and Sapphire. The part of her that had been conditioned by Homeworld instinctually rose up when she realized exactly how close she was pressed up against a Sapphire. This was bad. It was wrong for a Pearl to be close to a member of the royal court like this. She wasn't being touched, she was touching, no she was doing more than that even. In another time and place, she'd be crushed immediately for daring to reach out and touch a Sapphire of her own volition, let alone doing something as intimate as this.

Usually, Pearl would be able to crush those thoughts before they affect her at all. She'd learned to square her shoulders and speak over gems who ranked higher than Sapphire on Homeworld, to fight them or to fight with them.

But this was different, because Sapphire's mind was linked with hers.

Sapphire was suddenly bombarded with a type of fear and anxiety that she had never experienced before. She mentally reeled back. "You're scared of me," she said with the fusion's mouth. And suddenly her own turbulent emotions were running through the fusion. Disgust and guilt filled her. Pearl was her friend. She liked and respected her. Pearl was the renegade Pearl who'd helped Garnet adjust to being herself and learn how to actually fight instead of just hitting things like Ruby had always been taught to do. And she was afraid of her. Her disgust quickly turned to anger, and hate directed at Homeworld and The Diamonds.

But, even though Pearl knew the emotions weren't directed at her, she was still in the wrong headspace to process that fact especially with Sapphires thoughts pouring strait into her own. She flinched away from Sapphires feelings, more fear rising in her despite herself. That fear fed strait back the other two gems in the fusion.

Sapphire cringed. Ruby tried to intervene. The fusion broke apart.

All three of them landed hard on their backs. There was a moment of silence.

"I'm sorry," Pearl croaked.

"No, don't be, please." There were tears running down Sapphire's face.

"But I…"

"It's not your fault," Ruby said. "None of that was our fault." Pearl didn't respond, but just curled into herself and looked away. Ruby looked over at Sapphire who was looking down at her hands. She seemed stunned and sad, but mostly okay. Ruby stood up and offered a hand. Sapphire accepted it, using it to pick herself off the ground. It took barely a twirl to put Garnet back together. After taking a moment to gather herself, she walked over and silently took a seat next to Pearl.

"I'm sorry Garnet, I'm so sorry," she whispered.

"Shhh," Garnet said, bringing a hand up to gently stroke the other gem's hair. "You didn't do anything wrong." Pearl pressed her face into Garnet's shoulder. After a few moments of feeling the other gem shudder against her shoulder, Garnet shifted around and picked her up to settle her into her lap. Pearl blinked up at her in surprise. "She was great," Garnet said.

Pearl looked confused. "But…"

"She didn't have to be perfect to be great," Garnet said. Pearl seemed to relax a bit at that, some of the tension in her body leaving her. Some of the tightness in Garnet's chest went with it.

"I guess you're right," Pearl said, smiling a bit. "It was pretty great there at the beginning."

"Yeah it was."

Pearl pressed her forehead against Garnet's like they had before they fused. "We could try again some time, if you want," she said quietly. "Not today, but…"

"I'd like that," Garnet replied when she trailed off. "We can talk about it a bit more now that we know what if feels like and what can go wrong. We can figure out how to prevent something like that from happening again."

Pearl nodded. They stayed like that for a while, not saying anything, before finally going back to camp.

The second time they fused, they were a bit more careful. Once they'd decided to try again, there were still a few false starts, but eventually they were able to sink into each other. The fusion opened her eyes slowly and peered around herself. The camp was in the mountains now and she was sitting next to a strange rock formation that had seemed huge to her components, but could be used as an arm rest for her.

She was excited to exist again, but her components were not quite sitting calmly inside her yet. They were cautious after last time to let their thoughts truly meld for fear of another violent separation. Instead of melting into the background, they were all pretty present in her head. She could almost see Ruby sitting between Pearl and Sapphire acting as mediator until they were sure they'd sorted out the Homeworld hierarchy issues.

The fusion curled her legs up toward her chest and wrapped her top arms around them loosely. Interesting, that was very much a Pearl pose, she thought.

 _Sapphire's and Ruby's legs are too short and knobby to do it properly._

 _Oi!_

Sardonyx chuckled at herself. Wait. "Sardonyx? Is that my name?" She titled her head to the side, rolling the name around in her mind. "A sensational name for a sensational gem! Sardonyx!" She concluded.

 _Who exactly is contributing that attitude?_ It was more of a Ruby thought.

The fusion, Sardonyx, wasn't really sure. From her mix of memories, she couldn't pinpoint where her perception of herself was coming from.

 _Fusion isn't necessarily a grab bag of qualities. Traits mix in strange ways._ Strangely that seemed to come more from Garnet than any of her individual components. Perhaps because Ruby and Sapphire were more used to thinking together. She wondered if that was normal in a multi-gem fusion or if it was just because of the unique situation Garnet was in.

Though Sardonyx felt like the beginning of her musing had mostly been due to Pearl's curiosity and scientific nature, the other two parts of her quickly became curious themselves. Were there other fusion combinations in Sardonyx right now that had never actually existed outside her, but still held sway? What would a Sapphire and Pearl fusion even look like? How would a Ruby and Pearl fusion act?

 _Like a nervous wreck._ Sapphire supplied. The thought came off as mater-of-fact, but there was a teasing note hidden in it.

 _I'll have you know I am always calm and collected._

 _Sure…_ Both Sapphire and Pearl contributed.

 _Pearl that was aimed at you too! Why are you taking her side?_

 _I know I'm a neurotic mess._ Pearl did the mental equivalent of blushing. That isn't something she'd normally say out loud. _Sapphire is probably correct._

 _Am I being ganged up on? Am I being ganged up on in my own fusion?_

 _Of course not, dear._

 _You know. I'm starting to get a mental image of you two in a fusion. It would be a sarcastic asshole. Yeah, I can just about see it._

 _You may want to be careful Ruby, you don't have to live with me after this, but you will have to live with her._

 _I did nothing wrong… She started it!_

Sardonyx was starting to get a headache. The emotions flowing through her were all positive. Each part was very conscious of the fact that the jabs were all for fun and Pearl, Sapphire, and Ruby were all full of mirth, but it still made Sardonyx dizzy. They were happy, but their thoughts were far too separate, and she felt like she was being pulled in too many directions.

"I think we should unfuse now." Sardonyx said.

Garnet managed to stay together this time when they fell apart, but both ended up landing hard. Garnet even tumbled a few times before coming to a stop.

"We need to work on the landing," Pearl groaned, sitting up and rubbing her head where it had hit the ground. Garnet brushed off the pain from their separation much quicker, hopping back up to her feet and swooping Pearl up into her arms.

"Garnet! I'm still dizzy!" Pearl squawked when she was spun around in midair.

"Sorry," she said, just a bit breathless, but she didn't put Pearl down. "It's just. Her name's Sardonyx!"

"Yes it is." Pearl smiled at Garnet's antics. She'd never seen the fusion quite like this. Maybe it was because Ruby and Sapphire were still a bit sperate inside her making her act a bit off. Maybe she was just happy about how the fusion attempt went. Maybe it was a mixture of the two, but Pearl liked it. "We should do that again soon."

Garnet's smile took up most of her face. "Yes we should." She pressed her forehead to Pearl's this time and her skin just barely brushed Pearl's gem. Pearl felt a blush dust her cheeks, but Garnet didn't seem to notice. "But for now, back to camp."

"Aren't you going to put me down?" Pearl asked. "Garnet you can't carry me into camp!"

The next few times they'd fused had still been messy, but fun. They'd gotten scrapped up a few times on the way out, but they'd never been ripped apart without deciding to unfuse first. They hadn't told anyone else yet. For one it was something between the for now even if they were planning to tell eventually. Also, they were waiting until Sardonyx was a bit more stable. (So she could show off, Sardonyx admitted to herself even if her components wouldn't.) They didn't intent for the secret to come out in quite such a dramatic way, but really, was there any other way Sardonyx would have introduced herself to the rest of the rebels?

A small group of their army had gone out on a short mission away from the rest of the Crystal Gems. It was just Pearl, Garnet, Rose, an emerald, a couple of rutiles, and another ruby. There was an ambush by a group of almost 20 Amethysts and Jaspers. One of the rutiles had been poofed and would have been shattered if Pearl hadn't been quick enough. She'd lobbed a spear at the Amethyst holding the other gem and Garnet had shape shifted her arm to grab their comrade out of the air. Outnumbered, they'd retreated, but they'd ended up with their backs against a wall. Literally. The mountain pass that was supposed to be to their north had been sealed off in a rock slide. If the rock slide that been due to natural causes or some nefarious play, they weren't sure and didn't have time to investigate.

Even Rose seemed nervous as she drew her weapon and rallied her small amount of troops. Pearl thought they may have been able to make a go of it except Emerald was a new recruit and still a bit green and the still formed rutile was distracted. Which left them with only about 4 and a half fighters to 18 enemies. Pearl didn't quite like the odds. She searched her mind for a better plan than brute force and her eyes landed on Garnet who already had her gauntlets summoned.

"Garnet," she called. Her friend looked over at her. "I think, maybe, Sardonyx?"

Rose looked over at her in confusion, but didn't question her, knowing she was the only useful tactician under pressure in the bunch.

Garnet nodded and dissipated her weapons. There wasn't too much room, but they managed a twirl and a swift toss. It was enough.

Sardonyx unfolded herself, having to push some rocks away from her head as she straitened. She looked down at her teammates. Rose's eyes had stars in them already. She smiled down at her and winked. Despite having never summoned a weapon in this form, she easily pulled out Pearl's spear and Garnet's gauntlets and instinctively let them blend together with a flourish.

The Homeworld soldiers had never seen a monstrosity such as this. The stared stunned.

"I believe," Sardonyx started. "That it's about time that we all hammer out a few of our issues," she said with a laugh. She swung the hammer and instantly poofed three of the soldiers. The others scrambled for weapons, a couple of the Jaspers scrambled for fusion. Sardonyx was still a bit taller than it once it had formed. She used her bottom arms to wind up a swing with her hammer and hit the other fusion in the stomach. "Four!" she yelled. "I believe that was a gold reference," she said as the Jaspers split apart and poofed. "I don't think that's been invented yet, but in a few centuries," she swung her weapon and hit another two despite the fact that they were running away now, "I'm going to be hilarious."

Rose had led the others into the fray by this point and the group made quick work of the enemy soldiers. When it was done, Rose turned back to Sardonyx, the seriousness she'd had during battle, quickly fading into glee.

"Pearl! Garnet!" she squealed.

"Sardonyx!" the fusion enthused, offering her hand. Rose was smaller than her! What a strange experience. Rose happily took the invitation and crawled on top of the fusion's hand so Sardonyx could bring her up to eye level. "Hellooo Rose Quartz! And how did I perform?"

"You're amazing!" she replied a bit in awe.

"Oh thank you darling! I really am quite fantastic. Unfortunately, every great show must come to an end. But don't worry, if you ever have need of me, I'll be perfectly willing to put on an encore."

She set Rose down at her feet and let herself far apart. Garnet and Pearl stumbled a bit, but both managed to stay upright for the first time while unfusing. Pearl gripped Garnet's arm with a smile and they had a moment before Rose barreled into them to hug them and excitedly ask all about this new fusion.

 **** **AN: Thanks for reading. Sorry for the inevitable spelling errors.**


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